- This event has passed.
Sesame Street and You: Caring for Each Other During COVID-19 and Other Emergencies
September 30, 2020 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT
About This Webinar:
A health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, brings many changes and challenges for young children and families. But there are things we can do to face this new normal by staying healthy, keeping routines, and providing emotional support for one another while we continue to maintain a sense of optimism.
Join us to learn about our Caring for Each Other initiative, a new suite of resources to help the whole family find comfort, connect with one another, and take care of themselves too.
Additionally, we present materials created to support families before and after disasters. Whether a family is preparing for the unexpected or recovering from it, caregivers’ reassurance and comfort hold great power to soothe children even on the scariest and toughest days. For this session, we provide an overview of all these tools as well as strategies to put them into practice.
On-Demand Recording:
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn how to best address the impact of COVID on young children’s well-being, their families, and the many educators and providers supporting them through two broad categories:
- Prevention, healthy habits, and coping with illness,
- Emotional Support for the “for now normal,” and the transition to the longer-term effects of a new and unique traumatic experience
- Determine the best strategies to keep families connected before and after a natural or man-made disaster
- Become familiar with and apply the resources hosted on the online platform of Sesame Street in Communities into current work plans
- Hear how other providers and organizations currently utilize these tools and resources in their work
Presenters
Sabrina Huda is the Project Director for various Sesame Workshop initiatives that reach our most vulnerable and underserved kids and their 
families. As such, she works with key partner organizations that are committed to helping all kids become smarter, stronger, and kinder. Currently, she leads Sesame Street’s initiatives for Military Families plus initiatives to support the most vulnerable families addressing trauma. Most recently she led efforts on Sesame’s COVID-response work. Sabrina formerly worked on Sesame’s international projects in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Prior to joining Sesame Workshop, Sabrina was an Assistant Director and Case Manager at Spence Chapin working in domestic adoption. She was also a Teacher and Coordinator at the Barnard Center for Toddler Development.
Sabrina holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Barnard College and a Masters of Arts from Teacher College, Columbia University. When not on the longest street in the world, Sabrina will most likely be strolling through a park or starting a fire in her kitchen with some kooky recipe!
Melanie Gertzman is a project coordinator for Sesame Workshop’s US Social Impact department, focusing her time on Sesame Street for Military Families, See Amazing, and Sesame Street in Communities initiatives. Melanie also serves as a liaison with the strategy and research department working closely on the formative, evaluative, and impact studies involving 
social impact projects. Melanie formerly worked as an associate producer for Sesame Workshop’s Special Project Production department, producing short social impact documentary pieces for Sesame Street for Military Families and Sesame Street in Communities, as well as live performances produced for Sesame Place, Sesame Street Live, and Beaches.
Prior to joining Sesame Workshop, Melanie served as Executive Director for Bluelaces Theater Company, a non-profit organization that creates an immersive theater for audiences with autism and other developmental disabilities. She also worked as a commercial producer for Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and as a stage manager for Broadway, off-broadway, and regional theatrical productions.
Melanie holds Bachelor of Science degrees in theater and psychology from Northwestern University and a Masters in Education from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In her spare time, Melanie is an avid knitter, baker, and loves all things arts and crafts!
Continuing Education (CE) Credit
Click the button below for CE credit
You will be prompted to complete an evaluation after which a link will be provided.
- Social Work, Licensed Professional Counselors, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists: UT Social Work CE Credits are no longer available for this webinar. However, please click the button above to complete an evaluation to give us your feedback.
- Certified Family Life Educators: Contact Hours from the National Council on Family Relations to CFLEs are available.
- Case Managers: Case Management Continuing Education Credits from the Commission for Case Manager Certification are no longer available for this webinar. However, please click the button above to complete an evaluation to give us your feedback.
- Certificates of completion are also available for providers interested in documenting their training activities.
Event Materials
Blog: A New Adventure for our Military Kids
Activities featured in webinar session:
- New Family Traditions activity on the For Now Routines bundle on the Health Emergencies page!
- Thankful Hearts activity on the Self-Care/You Matter Most page!
Cover Photo: Sesame Street, “COVID-19: Everyday Challenges“
This webinar is a collaboration with the Sesame Street in Communities team. For more information on other programming and professional development opportunities with Sesame Street, visit our collaboration homepage!
